Updates, hair and Gilly-isms...

April has been good to us thus far! We only had one fever and we were lucky enough that it happened while we were already at clinic getting chemo. It made for a much longer clinic visit, but way better than having to go to the ER in the middle of the night!! Your fever was still hanging on the next afternoon so back we went to clinic for more IV antibiotics, but luckily it went away after Friday, and your counts were great!

Since clinic you have been feeling better and better everyday. What a blessing!! I swear I can watch you grow a little stronger everyday, and more and more like our old WeeMee. You go go go constantly and I'm having a hard time keeping up. Your sassy...oh so sassy. But I love that about you. You have always had a spunk and spark to your little personality, and it is so good to see some of that coming back. You are still LOVING tumbling and it is so fun to watch you. You try so hard.  You give it all you've got, and you come home exhausted!!

Look at those muscles!

Easter was a lot of fun. The Easter bunny brought  some long desired Pillow Pets and candy and you were thrilled. You have slept with and carried around the pillow pet ever since! We went to the West Point Easter egg hunt at the park on Saturday, and then did another Easter egg hunt at grammy's on Sunday. Then we all had a sugar overdose that night...ugh. I suggested that next year we need to tell the Easter bunny to bring fruit...that didn't seem to go over well.

Before...

during...

and after the city Easter egg hunt. Look at
those spoils!

Cousins don't let cousins hunt for Easter
eggs alone. (hard to believe you and
Katie are only 4 weeks apart in age...shes
a whole head taller than you!)

Yes, this was the best picture I got after
Grammy's Easter egg hunt.

The best and most exciting thing that has happened this month is that your Make A Wish playhouse was delivered!!! WOOT WOOT! The whole family was on pins and needles the whole week before...we were so excited we couldn't hardly stand it!! The blessed morning finally arrived and it was SNOWING! Right on time at 8AM, Colby (from Wood Manor Playhouses) showed up with his daughter to drop it off. Your sweet wish granters, Tom and Lezlie, were there too. (Proof that they are dedicated....they had to leave their homes at 7am on a Saturday morning to get to our house by 8am!!) They even brought doughnuts!  We knew in advance that your playhouse wasn't all the way done so we warned you in advance so you wouldn't be disappointed. It still needed paint and carpet. The painters were due the following weekend but had to postpone due to weather. So they came several days later when the weather cleared up. The carpet man came just the other day and it is officially done!! It has been so fun to have it at our house and get to watch the progress made.

 Make A Wish is such an amazing organization! I know Ive said this so many times before, but I cant tell you how good it has been for you to have this to look forward to. It has been sunshine to our souls this cold and wet and dreary and gloomy and sickly winter and spring.  You changed your mind last minute and decided you wanted your playhouse yellow, instead of pink, (thank heaven) so now its the color of sunshine too! I am so excited for our backyard remodel to be done so we can move the playhouse to its "official" place. Daddy's going to pour a cement pad for it to sit on, and we are going to landscape around it like its got its own yard. I told you we could get some cute pots and plant flowers in them to put  on your porch and you were so excited! You cant wait to water your own plants.

Braving the storm for this exciting delivery!

A porch swing! How cool is that?

Colby, the builder of the playhouse, kneeling
down to hand over a special surprise...
Your very own KEYS to your playhouse! Mommy
kept one of them "just in case...."

I wish I was more on top of our life and had more pictures of the process of finishing your playhouse. I feel like I am losing my mind a little and am so scatter brained lately! Life has gotten super busy around here with daddy's new calling and all the spring sports and recitals. I'm having a hard time keeping up. Luckily it seems to be getting easier and I know that if we all try our hardest the Lord will make up the rest.

Ive been reflecting a lot lately on this past year. We are coming up on the one year anniversary since your diagnosis and I cant believe how much our life has changed. How much I have changed. The computer shows a slide show of our pictures when it sits untouched for a minute and I catch myself staring at the pictures, and am in awe at all we've done. I can honestly say that if someone had told me a year ago what was going to happen on May 20th, 2010 I would've never believed I could deal with something like that. I would have wanted to run and hide somewhere. But when I look back on all we have been through and dealt with I can see the hand of the Lord. I am so grateful to my Savior for lifting me up and helping me through, because I know He did. I felt a strength from somewhere beyond myself. There were times when I was so tired and weak that I know He literally carried me through the day to day. I have truly learned what it says in Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  I know that the Lord made my burden, and yours, light. That he truly brought rest to our souls.

I just heard that Dr. Fluchel had to diagnose 4 children in a 5 hour period with leukemia. I cant imagine having  to tell one family that devastating news...let alone 4! I will always remember that day, when we got the news, and it was horrible. My heart breaks for those families, and I wish there was some way I could let them know that its going to be ok. That life is good, and that everything will turn out ok.

On a much lighter note...

April Hair...

These really don't do it any justice.

The back has grown quite a bit in the last
10 days, and you have little curls all over. So cute!

Cant believe how much lighter it is than it used to be!

Here's a "before" shot to compare hair.

You are SO FUNNY lately. You have always had a funny sense of humor and always made everyone smile with your silly questions and sometimes grown up sense of humor. Here are some of the latest Gilly-isms...

*In the middle of getting IV Fortaz (an antibiotic) at home.
"Mom, can daddy snuggle me while you give me my Fro-taz?"

**Walking into Primary for a fever..grammy was meeting us there...
"I sure hope grammy gets here quick so she can see how good I do!"

*After watching a less-than-exciting Animal Planet video on the computer...
"I am TOTALLY breaking up with this video!"

*After dad and sisters went to church and it was just the two of us...
Mom: "So... what shall we do...?"
You: "We should read scriptures... cause that's a good way to keep the "habit day" holy."

*Anytime  someone teases dad, or bugs him for something.
"Guys, be nice to dad! Hes only one man!"

*You  had been sick for quite a while, and had been in the hospital. (You said this a day or two after Carly's baptism.)
You: "Mom, do you remember when I was at Carly's baptizing?
Mom: "Yeah, wasn't that a special day?"
You: "Yeah, but I was really "impressed" there."
Mom: "You were? Wow, that's a big word for a little girl."
You: "I'm a big girl, that's why I know that impressed means, "really sad and tired and don't feel good so
           you fall asleep on your grandpa at your sisters baptizing.""
Mom: "Ohhhhh...sissy. I'm sorry. I think you mean DE-pressed."
You:  (heavy sigh) "Yeah, that's what I said."

*When you were on weekly cancer treatments me and dad would always wipe you after you went potty cause your pee and poo were toxic and we wanted to make sure you got all the way cleaned off. Since you've been in Maintenance we have struggled to get you used to doing it yourself.
You: "Mom, I went potty and I wiped myself."
Mom: "Really?? Did you do a good job?"
You: "Yeah, you don't need to worry cause I wiped like a billion of times so I wouldn't get "skip marks"
           on my Dora panties."

*Talking in the kitchen after you took your nightly chemo.
Mom: "Do you remember when you used to have a hard time taking all your medicines and you would
            cry about it for a long time before you'd take it?"
You: "Yeah, that was right after I found out I had cancer... and I was totally WIGGING out! Wigging out
           means you cry a lot cause you have cancer and you hate taking your medicine."

*The day after a back poke and chemo we went to a high school basketball game half time to watch your sister perform. Your legs started hurting so I took you out to the car to let you lay down. You were quiet for several minutes then you said...
You: "Mom what happens to kids who struggle with math and reading?"
Mom: (I laughed then said...) "What do you mean sissy, where did you hear that...from a commercial?"
You: "Yeah, but what happens to them?"
Mom: "Well sometimes their parents hire a "tutor" to help teach them the things they are having a hard
            time with."
You: laughing..."A TOOTER!? Why a tooter...how can a tooter help them learn math and reading??"
Mom: also laughing..."A tutor is not a person who toots a lot, its another word for a special teacher."
(We were both laughing so hard you forgot your legs were hurting!)
   

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By the way...If you are reading this blog and haven't signed up for the CureSearch Walk... then you should!   We need you. We need awareness. Did you know that breast cancer is 99% curable when caught early? Do you know why? Ill tell you....FUNDING and AWARENESS! Everyone knows someone who's been affected by cancer. Please help us find a cure, and raise awareness. If you cant donate...come anyway!! The more people that come and support "the cause" the better! Thank you to everyone who donated!

A sweet little girl, and friend to McKall,  named London had a bake sale and donated all her proceeds to CureSearch for Children's Cancer! Amazing! Even little ones can make a BIG difference! THANK YOU LONDON!!  This means so much to our family.

Off my soap box... now here's the link to sign up or donate:
http://www.curesearchwalk.org/saltlakecity/onetoughchick